Bleaching Wood

[Larryb]

The wood on my Traveller is in pretty good shape but there are a few small blackened areas such as near hinges etc. Can a little bleach and water help reduce the staining without harming the wood. The wood is hard and no sign of water softening it.

[aupickup]

house hold bleach is not good for the cell structure
use real lemon juice several apps will be needed

[POMMReg]

Oxalic Acid, think that's the stuff my mate used on his Traveller's
woodwork - not too sure of the spelling though, "Ox" something.

I tried Oxtail, but that made a mess and after a few weeks smelt
rather nasty!

[aupickup]

USE LEMON JUICE IT WORKS

[alexmcguffie]

I can swear by oxalic acid, worked wonders on my house window frames. Not as easy to buy as lemon juice though!

[Larryb]

Thanks gents. I am tempted to try lemon juice first as it is handy, safe and I love the smell. If it does not work I will use oxalic acid. The link below is for a product called wood bleach and states it contains oxalic acid.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200553 ... Ag3X8P8HAQ

[aupickup]

lemon juice is harmless it works

[Larryb]

Thank you. I will report my findings and results from the lemon juice application.

[mbo145]

Ok, all I can do is advise what I did, I am an antique furniture restorer (of 28 years) and did the original woodwork on my 1956 traveller 8 years ago, and it still looks good! When the woodwork is stripped down to the bare wood, using stripper, scrapers or sanding, (avoid using wire wool, as the bits do make the woodwork spotty when it gets wet!) Firstly apply a two part specialist wood bleach, the one I used was called "Super bleach" you add ammonia to activate it. Then after a few hours wash it off. Next step it to apply the oxylic acid, now it is a bit of a nasty substance, it come in crystals, so you need to dissolve it in boiling water, then brush it on and leave to dry. the crystals will form on the surface of the wood, leave for a few hours then thoroughly wash and scrub off, again avoid wire wool or anything metal based. The reason you get staining around the hinges is ash has tanic acid in it, as does oak and other woods, and rusty steel stains it dark with a chemical reaction, the oxalic removes this. Next step is to sand down the wood, to a smooth finish, it will be quite fluffy by now as the grain has been raised by all the water. Once sanded it will be very pale, so to bring it back to life apply a non-fading stain, or light -fast stain, the one I use is a spirit based "Yew" stain. After that I applied 2 coats of oil based exterior gloss clear varnish, and 6 years later I gave it a light sand and another coat, and it looks like I did it yesterday! Not sure if you can get the products I used in the US, but I can give you the names if you need them! The sections of the original wood was badly stained and it came up really well, it is a job, but well worth it!

[ALISCAR]

Larry B's link goes to Liberon Wood Bleach. Our traveller was bought with bad staining on some of the wood - see photo. We sanded some small sections of the affected woodwork and applied Liberon Wood Bleach according to the tin's instructions. There was no noticeable effect. I have not seen the two pack bleach referred to by US contributors to this subject (on this and another website). I have not yet tried lemon juice.

[ALISCAR]

Trying again to attach photo.

No success after several goes. Just take it from me that parts of our woodwork are badly stained.

[Larryb]

I tried lemon juice and thought it did an OK job but on later inspection, did not seem to do much of anything. Not wanting to jump into the acid bleach yet, I purchased some bronze wool and it did a very nice job on some of the dark wood. I demure from using the oxylic acid because of the warnings about keeping it off painted surfaces and skin and other places.

Now that winter has come, I will put the moggy away and continue with the bronze wool.

[Larryb]

I have gotten back to the wood staining problem. The lemon juice did not work at all. I tried bronze wool (medium grade) to get it lightened. It would take several generations at the rate it was working to get any staining off. I tried Bar Keepers Friend which has a small amount of oxalic acid but that did very little. Finally i used pure oxalic acid (which comes in a powder form and requires hot water to activate) and have been pleased with the results. I have put many applications on the wood and more to come. After I get it to the condition I want, I will smooth it out with the bronze wool and then apply a coat of Dek D-1 and D-2. I don't want this to happen again.

Does anyone have any idea what has caused this situation? It is not rot is is a dark stain. You can see from the photos what the wood looked like a year ago and what it looked like when I put the Moggy away for the winter.[frame][/frame]

[Larryb]

Cannot seem to get the "after" picture to post. Will try here.[frame][/frame]

[Trickydicky]

It looks to me like there is no air movement around the car while being overwintered.
What conditions has it been stored in?

Richard

[Larryb]

It has been stored in a large heated garage with plenty of air movement. This is the way it looked when I put it away. It did not develop over the winter. I am currently sanding and bleaching it now.

[Larryb]

I think I have found the culprit...mildew. The article at the url shows wood with surface mildew and it looks like my problem (page 8, figure 9) . The sanding and bleaching is working well. The solution per the article is a good Water Repellent Preservative (WRP). I guess the teak oil I was using isn't getting the job done. Now I need to determine which WRP to use.

http://www.mchd.com/pdf/woodpr.pdf

[MartinLowe]

a cheap source of oxalic acid if you grow rubharb, the leaves are packed with it, which is why it's not a good idea to eat them. my grandfather used a solution made by finely chopping the leaves and steeping them in hot water for an hour or two, used it to bleach wood for furniture

[Larryb]

Thanks Martin but the powdered form is fairly cheap and less work. It did a good job for me.

[SteveClem]

Interesting this. Our trav wood stayed perfect for several years in a dry,cool garage.2 years ago it had to stand outside through the autumn while we had builders extending the garage (to fit in more old cars!). Some kind of mould got into the wood and although it seems to have done no real harm,and is gradually fading,it was concerning at the time. Part of the 'patination' process ?